Today, the spotlight is on a new vampire novel by Katrina Michaels! I will be posting my review on 10/30/12.
Giveaways: At the end of the post there are links for 6 active Halloween Giveaways. Leave a comment here and be entered to win a paperback copy (USA residents only) or one of five e-copies of Annals of the Immortyls (Open to any commenter).
Here is a little about Tainted Blood:
Tainted Blood by Katrina Michaels
Lilith's Day is
a time of celebration and remembrance among vampires. As the holiday looms, a series of horrific
deaths shocks the vampire community of Riverside
and gathers the attention of Tom Duncan and his agents at the Preternatural
Investigation Agency. The vampires’
blood products had never been considered vulnerable to tampering, so when the
cause of death points to poisoning, everyone is shocked. Finding the culprit amidst unknown motives,
numerous suspects, and rising tension between vampires and humans proves to be
complicated.
At the same time, Agent Max Boyd finds
herself having to face her past when a dangerous thief makes his presence known
in Riverside. Reliving mistakes you tried to put behind you
is never easy, as Max well knows, but when the thief puts her friend's life in
danger, that is exactly what she must do.
Excerpt: Marco
Delant broke away from chatting with some of his regulars and continued making
the rounds of his club. It was a Friday
night and the after work crowd was piling into Tombstone looking for colorful drinks and
meaningless conversation. He passed by
the bar and nodded to his newest bartender.
Lucas returned the favor before turning his attention back to the ladies
placing their orders. He smiled wide,
allowing his fangs to show, and smirked as the ladies giggled predictably.
It
had come as no surprise to Marco that Tombstone’s
patrons had become accustomed to having a vampire behind the bar. When Tara
quit, it was mentioned frequently by his customers. Being able to take some not so subtle hints,
he began searching for a new preternatural bartender, but found it harder than
he thought it would be. His first two
hires didn’t work out very well. The
first told him that Tombstone’s
music was too loud and distasteful and the second preferred to glare at anyone
within two feet rather than serve them.
However, Lucas was fitting in nicely so maybe his luck was changing.
“Lilith’s
Day is approaching and the moon is shining bright,” Jackson intoned after sidling silently up
next to Marco. “It may seem quiet, but
it won’t last.”
“Then
I guess I’ll appreciate the quiet for as long I can,” Marco smiled, humoring
the eccentric vampire, sometimes also called a Bela, as they preferred to
emulate the old-fashioned movie vampire stereotype.
Jackson took a delicate sip of the blood from his wine glass as he
considered Marco’s words. “Very true,”
he agreed. “But I prefer chaos to
quiet. Silence can easily be destroyed
by a mere whisper, but nothing can end chaos.”
“I’ll
keep that in mind.”
“Please
do. Oh, my compliments. It is a lovely vintage tonight,” the vampire
smiled, rolling the blood in the glass.
He took another long swallow before turning back into the crowd as his
black cape fluttered dramatically with each stride.
Out
of all the types of vampires Marco had met, Belas were certainly some of the
oddest. At least they were taking
inspiration from Bela Lugosi and not the actual Vlad the Impaler and so were
mostly harmless.
Marco
dismissed Jackson’s
words as mere theatrics and continued to survey the crowd. Satisfied that everyone was happy and that
everything was operating smoothly, he disappeared into his office to catch up
on paperwork. He hadn’t been sitting at
his desk for more than a half an hour, though, before the screams started.
The
first one caught him by surprise and he knocked his glass of water to the
floor. The shattering glass stole his
attention briefly, but more voices joined in the high-pitched clamor emanating
from the club. Marco ran out of his
office and tried to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. People were scrambling away from a darkened corner
of the club, but others were pointing behind the bar in horror.
“Spencer! What’s going on?” Marco shouted to a nearby
bouncer.
“I
think Lucas is sick,” the bouncer replied nervously. Everyone knew that vampires didn’t get sick.
“What? Okay, check to see what’s happening over
there and I’ll see to Lucas. And try to
keep people calm,” Marco ordered and pointed to the other focus of the ruckus.
Marco
hurried over to the bar, pushing people out of the way gently until he could
see his bartender. The vampire was on
his knees vomiting blood onto the floor.
“Lucas!” Marco cried and jumped over the bar. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t
know,” he gasped in between heaves.
“Hurts!”
“What
hurts?” Marco asked and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and dialed
911. He quickly gave the operator Tombstone’s address and
let her know that the emergency involved a vampire. “Lucas, what hurts?” he asked again after he
disconnected.
“Throat. Blood’s burning,” Lucas rasped and managed to
look up at Marco who swallowed hard. The
vampire’s lips were turning black and cracked.
He had never seen anything like it.
Lucas
heaved and blackened blood erupted from his mouth onto the floor. As he coughed out more blood, Marco could see
open oozing blisters in his mouth. The
vampire started to scream as black lines began spreading out across his face
and down his neck. It took Marco a
second to realize that the lines were actually veins.
“Marco!”
Spencer yelled. “It’s one of the
customers. A vampire. He’s throwing up blood. He looks real bad!”
“Oh
my God! Help! He’s dying!” a woman screamed from the other
corner where Marco could see that another crowd had gathered.
“What
the hell is going on?” Marco breathed and looked around the club, seeking some
sort of answer, and saw Jackson
sitting quietly in one of the chairs near the back. The vampire noticed his gaze and raised his
glass in a mock salute to the sudden chaos.
Don't forget to leave a comment at this post to be entered into the drawing for Tainted Blood (USA) and Annals of the Immortyls (Anyone).
Here are the 6 other active giveaways. Just leave a comment after the posts to enter, except on
B. K. Walker's post, where there is a Rafflecopter.
Ebooks by Vanessa Morgan:
Ebook from Katie Salidas:
Ebook from Roy Hudson:
Two Paperbacks from A. J. Scudiere:
B. K. Walker Halloween Gift Basket:
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